Here’s the next story of my series, and this one is a cliffhanger. . .

TKPenguin was cold, scared, and hungry. Backed up to a wall with his battered Korean Fan, a humongous warrior closed in on him. The warrior had unnatural muscles bulging out of his long arms, and in his hands was an axe with blood all over the tip. TKP tried to move and attack, but was too scared to move a muscle. The axe swung closer, the warrior smiled more devillishly, and the room seemed to get darker. TKP closed his eyes and waited, waited for his doom. . .

“Get up! Wake up! Get up! WAAAKE UP!” the waker-upper mage hollered, using his Magic Bolt skill to bang the doors of everyone’s room. TKPenguin awoke, cold sweat pouring down his neck. “Just a dream, just a dream, just a dream,” TKPenguin tried to tell himself. He got out of bed and put on his clothes, admiring himself in the mirror. “Yup, this Cash Shop stuff makes me look real fiiiine,” TKPenguin said, slanting his MashCap. A young female magician came in and saw TKP dressing up and looking all ‘pimp’.
“Perhaps this is a bad time?” the young mage girl asked, blushing.
TKP looked around, startled, and quickly removed all his Cash Shop junk. “Ehehe, I was just.. trying this stuff on.”
“Of course you were. Well, this package is for you,” she threw a large parcel on TKP’s bed, which was unmade. “See ya around.” She winked and left the room.

“Heh, that was awkward. Well, let’s check out this hunk o’ junk.”

The package was old and covered in foliage. On the back, a small note was attached, reading, “TO: TKPenguin (AKA Thomas) FROM: Vulgar (AKA Addison).

“Good heavens, Addison! I haven’t heard from that dude in forever! Eh, there’s a card inside.

The card read: “To my good friend Thomas.
You may have noticed I haven’t been in touch for a while. The reason is simple; I don’t want to even be in this war. I don’t want to kill needlessly over faceless leaders. So I ended my Maple life, permanently. In this old package I have my old lvl 50 gear and a Maple Wagner. Other than that, there’s some money and a picture of me. Hopefully you’ll live long enough to level up to use this stuff.
Best wishes pal,

Addison”

TKP wiped away a tear from his cheek. Addison, gone. Steeisin (AKA Will), probably dead. Other friends, in to other units destined to die. The only way to stop the bloodshed to win the war. That’s exactly what TKP planned to do. He strapped on his khaki shadow set, dusted off his new Wagner (which was scrolled), and stashed his money in his specially-designed penguin treasure chest. He ran outside, knowing full well that the troops he was going to lead to battle had to be ready.

“Captain! I’m pleased to announced that I am now a full-fledged bandit, suh! I trained all through the night just to impress ya! Isn’t that great? Dark Lord made me a bandit!” Announced Toby, the second best thief in TKP’s unit.
“Great job Toby. Just keep on training, okay? I’m gonna head to the dodging place if you need me. Bye!” TKPenguin waved, then ran to his training spot. On his way, he ran right in to the young mage who gave him the package. The other problem was that TKP bumped right in to her face, and well.. some lips touched.

“Aah! Took me by surprise there!” the mage girl laughed.
“Hehe, yeah.” TKP blushed, hoping that the mage girl didn’t realize that TKP had kissed her.
“Well, I never told you my name, did I? Well it’s Lauren,” the girl said, smiling.
“Nice ta meetcha, Lauren! Let’s catch up later. For now I gotta go! So long!” Said TKP, running to the training area.

While he was running, Dark Lord appeared right in front of TKP. “Flirting with the mail-girl eh?” The sensei laughed.
“Not really sir. I was just walking by,” replied TKP.
“Heh, not likely, but whatever. I’m keeping my eye on you.”
“Yes sir.”

Dark Lord vanished, with a smug grin on his face. TKPenguin rolled his eyes and continued to the training area, ready to get to work. When he arrived he trained throughout the whole day. He trained with the drive to defeat the Screaming Hawks, his enemies. He trained with the drive to fight for Addison. Most of all, he trained with the drive that he would see Steeisin again.

It was night. The dark woods near Kerning City rustled in the twilight breeze. But there was someone going through the woods, and was going quickly. It was Dark Lord. He ran for what seemed like an hour, then finally reached his destination. “Glad to see you came, Dark Lord,” said a mysterious figure. He grinned an evil smile. “Very glad indeed, hehehe.”

Dark Lord readied his weapon, a Dragon’s Tail and a Casters claw. He was prepared to fight.

In a nearby tree, TKPenguin watched. He had followed Dark Lord without him noticing. The mysterious figure unsheathed a Devil’s Sunrise in one hand and an odd stick in the other. He charged. . .

To Be Continued

So there’s my story, sorry if it’s another long one. The next one will be ready by tomorrow at around this time! Stay tuned, and comments and feedback are greatly appreciated!